COVID-19: Top news stories about the pandemic on 11 February | World Economic Forum – World Economic Forum

Confirmed cases of COVID-19 have passed 406 million globally, according to Johns Hopkins University. The number of confirmed deaths has now passed 5.79 million. More than 10.3 billion vaccination doses have been administered globally, according to Our World in Data.

Australian residents will need to receive booster shots to be considered fully vaccinated against COVID-19. However, authorities have said foreign travellers will continue to only need two jabs to enter the country.

Novavax announced yesterday that its two-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 80% effective against the virus in a late-stage trial with teens aged 12-17 years.

The Dutch government has announced its aim to drop most of its COVID-19 restrictions by the end of February, after record infection levels in recent weeks had only a limited effect on hospital numbers.

Spain has lifted a requirement to wear face masks outside as COVID-19 cases continue to recede from record highs.

The Czech government has ended requirements that required vaccination certificates to enter restaurants and events.

Pfizer's oral COVID-19 drug has been approved by a Japanese Health Ministry committee.

The BA.2 subvariant of Omicron is now the dominant COVID-19 variant in South Africa - and has been detected in multiple other African countries - the director of the Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention said yesterday.

Daily new confirmed COVID-19 cases per million people in selected countries.

Image: Our World in Data

The COVID Response Alliance to Social Entrepreneurs - soon to continue its work as the Global Alliance for Social Entrepreneurship - was launched in April 2020 in response to the devastating effects of the pandemic. Co-founded by the Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship together with Ashoka, Echoing Green, GHR Foundation, Skoll Foundation, and Yunus Social Business.

The Alliance provides a trusted community for the worlds leading corporations, investors, governments, intermediaries, academics, and media who share a commitment to social entrepreneurship and innovation.

Since its inception, it has since grown to become the largest multi-stakeholder coalition in the social enterprise sector: its 90+ members collectively support over 100,000 social entrepreneurs across the world. These entrepreneurs, in turn, have a direct or indirect impact on the lives of an estimated 2 billion people.

Together, they work to (i) mobilize support for social entrepreneurs and their agendas; (ii) take action on urgent global agendas using the power of social entrepreneurship, and (iii) share insights from the sector so that social entrepreneurs can flourish and lead the way in shaping an inclusive, just and sustainable world.

The Alliance works closely together with member organizations Echoing Green and GHR Foundation, as well as the Centre for the New Economy and Society on the roll out of its 2022 roadmap (soon to be announced).

Africa is transitioning out of the pandemic phase of the COVID-19 outbreak and moving towards a situation where it will be managing the virus over the long term, the head of the World Health Organization on the continent said yesterday.

"I believe that we are transitioning from the pandemic phase and we will now need to manage the presence of this virus in the long term," Dr Matshidiso Moeti told a regular online media briefing.

She also said that the WHO estimates the total number of COVID-19 infections in Africa could be up to seven times higher than official data suggests, and deaths could be two to three times higher.

"We're very much aware that our surveillance systems problems that we had on the continent, with access to testing supplies, for example, have led to an underestimation of the cases," Moeti said.

Germany's daily rise in the number of COVID-19 infections is slowing, data from the Robert Koch Institute showed yesterday, indicating that a fourth wave of the pandemic could flatten soon.

Germany reported 247,862 new daily coronavirus cases on Thursday, up 5% from the same day last week. The 7-day infection incidence per 100,000 people also rose to 1,465 from 1,451 a day earlier.

Germany's adjusted hospitalization rate rose only slightly to 10.96 per 100,000 people from 10.88 a day earlier.

Germany's coronavirus wave is expected to peak around mid-February, the health minister said last month. The number of cases stabilizing means the country could start discussing easing national restrictions.

Written by

Joe Myers, Writer, Formative Content

The views expressed in this article are those of the author alone and not the World Economic Forum.

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COVID-19: Top news stories about the pandemic on 11 February | World Economic Forum - World Economic Forum